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Effects of Cultural Diversity and Emotional Regulation Strategies on Team Member Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2017

Ki Ming Hui ,
Timothy C. Bednall ,
Lu Wang  and
Karin Sanders
Ki Ming Hui
Affiliation:
School of Management, UNSW Business School, The University of New South Wales, Australia
Timothy C. Bednall*
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Marketing, Swinburne Business School, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Lu Wang
Affiliation:
Research School of Management, College of Business and Economics, Australian National University, Australia
Karin Sanders
Affiliation:
School of Management, UNSW Business School, The University of New South Wales, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Dr Timothy C. Bednall, Department of Management & Marketing, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Mail H23, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Research on the effects of cultural diversity on individual team member performance has typically assumed a linear relationship, but has yielded mixed findings. In the study, we address these inconsistencies by hypothesizing an optimal (mid-range) level of diversity that maximizes performance. Given the potential for negative emotions to arise within a diverse team, we also hypothesize that team members who employ emotional self-regulation strategies will demonstrate stronger performance. We adopt an individual-level perspective, assessing diversity as the cultural dissimilarity between each individual and their teammates. Using a sample of 103 postgraduate students (23 teams with 3–6 participants in each), we found evidence of a curvilinear relationship between cultural dissimilarity and individual team member performance. Contrary to our expectations, we found that individual performance is greatest at very low and very high levels of dissimilarity. In terms of emotional regulation strategies, we found that cognitive reappraisal was associated with higher performance, but there was no evidence for the effects of expressive suppression. Together, the present findings challenge the assumption that the diversity-performance relationship is linear. Our findings also indicate individual performance in culturally diverse teams is influenced by individuals’ use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate negative emotions.

Keywords

cultural practicesemotionsgroups/teamsself-managementwork teams
Type
Articles
Information
The Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology , Volume 10 , 2017 , e4
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2017 

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